Monday, 28 September 2015

The Roux
family is marked by generations of foolish love, unrequited love and love lost.
And for the youngest- Ava- this is no exception.

Born with
the wings of a bird Ava has never been what you would call ‘normal’, sheltered
from the outside world Ava yearns to explore the wider world and gain a deeper
understanding about herself.

But not everyone can be as understanding as her
family and two choice friends. Naïve to the harsh realities of small town life Ava
finds herself the fixture of Nathaniel Sorrows obsession, a twisted man with a burning
desire that explodes the night of the summer solstice celebration.

It’s on this
night that Ava’s story reaches its peak and it’s then that a decision will be
made, will she loose herself like countless others in her family? Or will she
decide that love doesn’t define you?

My opinion

This is easily one of the
best books I have ever read, from start to finish I was hooked. I laughed, I
cried and when it was over all I wanted was to read it again. Written in
lyrical prose is a story spanning multiple generations of the Roux family and
their quest for love and belonging with elements of magical realism weaved in;
Contrary to the title it is not entirely focused on Ava who doesn’t come into
the book until the second half. However don’t let that deter you, every
character in this book is so painfully human each showing us what it’s like to succumb
to the desires of the human heart, and how foolish and selfish we can be in the
name of love.

“This
time could be different. This time it could last. Maybe it would be a longer,
deeper love: a real and solid entity that lived in the house, used the
bathroom, ate their food, mussed up the linens in sleep. A love that pulled her
close when she cried, that slept with its chest pressed against her back.”

Walton’s writing is so whimsical
and beautiful evoking emotion from deep inside, making you feel inexplicable
sorrow for these characters and their lives. What I loved most was that despite
having an army of characters Walton still manages to make each of them so three
dimensional and complex without losing focus on her writing. She creates a
storm cloud of emotions surrounding each of the characters, all of whom I loved
reading about- even if they did make my heart hurt most of the time.

“To
many, I was myth incarnate, the embodiment of a most superb legend, a fairy
tale. Some considered me a monster, a mutation. To my great misfortune, I was
once mistaken for an angel. To my mother, I was everything. To my father,
nothing at all. To my grandmother, I was a daily reminder of loves long lost.
But I knew the truth—deep down, I always did.I was just a girl.”

I’d say that this book
probably won’t appeal to everyone but even if magical realism isn't your thing
give this book a chance, the fantastical aspects of the novel only add to its richness
and uniqueness giving you a other-worldly yet beautifully real novel.

If I had to some up this book in one word it
would be tragic. The anguish that I felt reading about the different
generations of the Roux family and the quest for love was deeply real and they
will stay with me for a long time.

Wednesday, 22 July 2015

Her whole
life Aria has known nothing but the digital world of Reverie, exploring any
world she can imagine with a single thought. And what lies beyond closed doors
has never phased her, what’s real life when you can go from sitting in a saloon
to exploring space in the blink of an eye. But when her mother goes missing and
Aria is forced to leave the confines of Reverie her chances of survival look
slim.

Then Aria
meets Perry, an outsider and her only hope for survival. Luckily he is also
searching for someone and could use Aria’s help. Together they must put their
differences aside as their best hope for answers may lie within each other.

My opinion

Like many
others, I heard of this book purely through a spike in the number of people
reading it and therefore the number of people talking about it and as I had
just finished reading Ignite me and I was very depressed due to the poor
quality of the book I was looking for a book to get me out of my funk?? (do
people still use that word??) and Under the Never Sky definitely succeeded.

Under the
never sky is set in a post-apocalyptic world in which we have two kinds of
humans, people who live in the pods (dwellers as they are called) and the
outsiders, who being adapted to the harsh realities of the outside world have
developed heightened senses.

“She knew how to put one foot in front of the other even when every step hurt. And she knew there was pain in the journey, but there was also great beauty. She'd seen it standing on rooftops and in green eyes and in the smallest, ugliest rock.”

Veronica
Rossi’s portrayal of the characters for me was very realistic and true to the situations
they were in and the fast paced nature of the book made it an interesting read.
As for the characters, the book is told in dual points of view, Aria and Perry’s. Aria I found was a very strong minded character who I warmed to very early on.
Likewise Perry’s character was easy to fall in Love with too, being physically
strong but also very emotional and at times quite a vulnerable character. The
romance between the two was gradual and followed the natural flow of the story,
it didn't feel rushed or forced and ultimately what I loved most was these two
very clear focused characters were not prepared to end it all in love; they have
specific goals which they recognise that they have to achieve first before they
can commit themselves to each other.

Monday, 20 July 2015

Cas Lowood is your typical teenage guy, lives with his mum and spirit sensing cat, travelling across the country, hunting dead people and ultimately searching for the spirit that killed his father… completely normal right?

Now Cas arrives in Ontario in search of Anna, Anna Dressed in Blood. And people like Anna, filled with murderous rage must be destroyed and it’s up to Cas to destroy it.

For Anna killing is nothing, no one’s life has been spared, except for Cas’. And as Anna’s story unravels Cas begins to understand her blood lust.

But what hope is there for a ghost and a ghost hunter?

My opinion

Anna Dressed
in Blood was surprisingly an amazing read, I’ll admit the plot intrigued me but
I didn’t think I would actually like it. Horror is not really my thing, so I
don’t really know why I picked it up, but I wasn’t expecting to finish it. And yet despite all of that I couldn’t put it
down.

Surprisingly
what I really enjoyed was how the protagonist was male, after the absolute
train wreck that is beautiful creatures I’ve always been weary around male
protagonists but Cas was a really well written character that was so complex
and three dimensional, I just loved him and it helped that he could really kick
some ass, y’know being a ghost/demon hunter and all that.

“I’ve seen most of what there is to be afraid of in this world, and to tell you the truth, the worst of them are the ones that make you afraid in the light. The things that your eyes see plainly and can’t forget are worse than huddled black figures left to the imagination. Imagination has a poor memory; it slinks away and goesblurry. Eyes remember for much longer.”

What struck
me as well was that Kendare Blake could have chosen to have made the unique? Romance
the books selling point but she steered away from that, focusing instead on the
characters and building the story whilst gradually introducing this heat
between Cas and Anna, which was not only refreshing but very well executed.

Next moving
onto the enigma that is Anna, Anna was a very raw character; you could almost
feel the anger and sadness pouring from her but don’t be fooled because at some
points she genuinely terrified me and at others all I wanted to do was give her
a big hug and wrap her up in a blanket with a cup of hot chocolate.

What I’m
trying to say is just give this book a chance, you will probably find that you
will surprisingly fall in love with it.

Tuesday, 14 July 2015

The world is divided, reds and silvers, rich and poor, commoners and gods. It’s as simple as that, until one day it isn't.

17 year old Mare Barrow proves to be the exception. Living as a poor red girl she thinks that being enrolled in the army is as glamorous as life can get until a turn of events finds Mare saved from conscription and working as servant in the king’s palace. In the belly of the beast Mare discovers that despite her red blood she possesses a deadly power of her own one to rival that of her enemies.

But being a red in a sea of silvers, Mare finds herself caught up in Court politics and begins to play a dangerous game. The only question is, who can she trust?

My opinion

I saw a lot
of hype around this book, which was one of the main reasons I picked up, that
and the pretty cover and for a debut novel I have to say overall Victoria
Aveyard does well. However, I have some issues, it may be because I went in
with such high expectations but at times it was dry and I was forcing myself to
read on. With such a promising premise- with the world being divided into
silver blooded and red blooded people, the former having special abilities- I
was expecting much more action than was given to me but maybe it will kick
start in book two. Also I found it was heavily focused on the romance with all
the potential surrounding the brewing revolution from the reds to overthrow the
silvers and silver abilities.

“In school, we learned about the world before ours, about the angels and
gods that lived in the sky, ruling the earth with kind and loving hands. Some
say those are just stories, but I don’t believe that. The gods rule us still.
They have come down from the stars. And they are no longer kind.”

And don’t
even get me started on the romance; typical girl is different so all guys love
her and all girls hate her, but really is everyone in love with this girl???
Two Princes and a childhood sweetheart??? And of course all this attention
warrants bitchy girl drama *eyes roll all the way to the moon*

My final
issue was with world building, Red queen is classed as fantasy and what I love
about fantasy is the incredible new worlds you can get lost In. basically world
building is a big thing for me, it’s the hallmark for a good fantasy book. Take
S J Mass’ Throne of Glass. I just feel like Aveyard has all this material she’s
working with and she’s just given us the pocket on a pair of jeans. I would
have liked to have seen a map of this world- Norta-she had created at the
beginning, as it’s described later on in the book and for me the details were
hard to get around, later I was able to find a map online but It would have
been nice to have something to reference to while reading . But again maybe we
get to explore more in book two.

Overall, I
feel like this book had so much potential and had so much going for it that
even Aveyard didn't know what to focus on. For me, it could have worked better
if it was shorter as the suspense kept building up and then…. Nothing would
happen.

However
despite all of this, I did enjoy the book and found myself wanting to read the
second one. Mare I feel was quite an empowering character even if she could be
annoying at times, and the Princes, Cal and Maven, I feel their personalities
showed what the pressures of court life and living as Princes would do to you.
What I really loved was how Mare’s relationship with her brothers was presented
and it’s something I hope is expanded in book two.

Sunday, 12 July 2015

17 year old Penryn young is thrown into the middle of a war world with only one thing on her mind- to keep her younger sister and mother alive, which was hard enough without the added mess of killer angels and blood thirsty gangs.

When Penryn’s sister is kidnapped she is forced to go against her every instinct and make a deal with the enemy.

Raffe, an angel warrior, half-starved and helpless finds himself at the mercy of a 17 year old human. Together they set off, travelling Northern California with only each other to rely on, but when the time comes who will they stand with? Each other or their own kind?My opinion

Well Susan
Ee you have blown me away. The End of Days series has well and truly destroyed
dystopia for me, how can it get any better than this? I mean really, I have
trouble with dystopia as somehow the authors all seem to get bored and rush
their writing towards the end *ahem* mockingjay, ignite me, reached…. Need I go
on? But my faith has been restored.

First of
all, angels? I put this book off for so long because c’mon angels? Generally angel
stories bore me they can be clichéd and well they just suck, *cough* hidden,
halo, angel *cough* all came on just, well, childish. But I urge you, if like
me, you see the word angel and just back away from books, do not shy away from
Angelfall not only is the protagonist a straight up badass but she is also incredibly
witty, the back and forth between Penryn and Raffe is something I never wanted
to end. But don’t be fooled these books are about so so so much more than just
a romance.

"I'm proud to be human. We're ever so flawed. We're frail, confused, violent, and we struggle with so many issues. But all in all, I'm proud to be a Daughter of Man."

Next Dystopia
in general has a way of sucking people in with their wild premises and I mean
you can really get away with anything with these types of books, the genre opens
itself up to the impossible. And don’t get me wrong Susan Ee plays well with
this but excluding that her writing is just so… I can’t think of the word… she
just draws you in, I did not tire of Angelfall. I crave more Susan Ee her
writing is very addictive.

Most importantly
though is how the quality remains consistent and how the ultimate goal of the
story is not strayed from for a romantic plot *heaves a sigh of relief*.

Thursday, 12 March 2015

17 year old Evie O'Neil has been exiled from her boring home town of Chicago to New York City, where she will stay with her uncle Will and his museum of the occult, but she couldn't be happier after all dreams come true in New York- quite literally it seems.

However amongst her euphoria of finally being in New York, Evie is hiding a dark secret. A supernatural ability which she fears her uncle will find out about. But as a string of cryptic murders come to light Will is called to help enlisting in his student Jericho's and Evie's help.

And whilst Evie Is plunged into a world of murder, mysteries, speakeasies, old and new friends, New York has things to hide.

A chorus girl named Theta is hiding in the shadows of her past. A con artist named Sam is out for revenge. A student called Jericho hides a big secret. A young opportunist named Memphis longs for more. And a blind homeless man sees more than most for an evil has awakened one that no one is prepared for.

My opinion

For fans of Cassandra Clare and Marissa Meyer:

Where to begin? I have so much love for this book it has everything I've ever wanted all in one, a strong witty female protagonist, fantasy, urban legends, witty dialogue... I could go on and on and on but I think you get it. I laughed, I swooned and I was legitimately sacred at some points.

Bray's portrayal of 1920's New York and the period detail was so brilliantly executed that I felt like I was there; experiencing women's liberation, speakeasies and flappers in and amongst the hight of the Jazz era however Brays representation wasn't all beaded necklaces and marathon dancing. Amongst the clouded euphoria of the roaring twenties Bray shows a much darker side of New York with it being the hight of the civil rights movement, xenophobia, gang wars and prohibition. Amid all of this Bray weaves in a fanatical occult killer and elements of fantasy. Which will have you drawn in immediately.

Evie O'Neil is a swell ( did you see what I did there? ) character, easily one of my most loveable protagonists! Her development in retaliation to her situation was brilliantly executed. She has this magnetic quality that makes you wish she was real, because having a friend like her? No day would be boring! I Loved Evie's relationship with the other characters, especially with her uncle Will, her polar opposite who she ends up solving murder mysteries with. The witty banter between Evie and Sam was one of my favourite aspects of the book, I was constantly re-reading their scenes, I couldn't get enough!

Now I could beat my gums (eh eh?? ;)) about every single one of these characters all day long but we would be here forever, the book has so many layers with a wide range of characters but you'll just have to take my word that they are all equally brilliant! But don't be fooled because they are hiding secrets of their own too.

“You can’t blame a fella for kissing the prettiest girl in New York, can you, sister?” Sam’s grin was anything but apologetic. Evie brought up her knee quickly and decisively, and he dropped to the floor like a grain sack. “You can’t blame a girl for her quick reflexes now, can you, pal?”

I will say though that there dialogue is quite heavy with 1920's slang which takes some getting used to, now me? I loved it, it made the book seem more real for it's period. However I can see how people could get annoyed by it!

Now, for the murderer! Apart from Anna Dressed in Blood books don't normally scare me, films yes, heck yes. But books? Not so much, not until I read this one. Our Murderer/deranged occult believer is one of the most twisted characters I've ever met who gave me the heebie-jeebies (I'll stop with the 1920's slang now), and all I could keep thinking was how has bray managed to go from writing fluffy swoon worthy banter to creating this dark, mutilating killer with his own theme song... Naughty John, Naughty John...

“Naughty John, Naughty John, does his work with his apron on. Cuts your throat and takes your bones, sells 'em off for a coupla stones.”

P.s. I can't do this book justice, Just read it.

P.p.s. If the cover alone doesn't make you want to read it then I don't know what will!